Lecture International marketing (14/e) - Chapter 17

International Marketi
ng
14th Edition
P h i l i p R. C a t e o r a
M a r y C. G i l l y
John L. Graham

Personal Selling
and
Sales Management
Chapter 17
McGraw­Hill/Irwin
International Marketing 14/e

Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw­Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


What Should You Learn?
• The role of interpersonal selling in international
marketing
• The considerations in designing an international
sales force
• The steps to recruiting three types of
international sales people
• Selection criteria for international sales and
marketing positions

17-2


What Should You Learn?

• The special training needs of international
personnel
• Motivation techniques for international sales
representatives
• How to design compensation systems for an
international sales force
• How to prepare Americans for foreign
assignments
• The changing profile of the global sales and
marketing manager
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Global Perspective

International Assignments are Glamorous, Right?
• Job security
• Adjustment to other cultures
• Readjustment upon return to U.S.
• Will an international assignment really help your
career?

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Designing the Sales Force
• Relationship marketing and customer
relationship management
• Decisions must be made regarding the numbers,
characteristics, and assignments of sales

personnel
• Different market requirements regarding direct
sales and customer approach
• Territory allocation
• Customer call plans
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Recruiting Marketing
and Sales Personnel
• The largest personnel requirement abroad for
most companies is the sales force
• Expatriates
–
–
–
–
–

Numbers are declining
Important for highly technical or involved products
High cost
Cultural and legal barriers
Limited number of high-caliber personnel willing to live abroad

• Virtual expatriates
– Manage operations in other countries but don’t live there
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Recruiting Marketing
and Sales Personnel
• Local nationals
–
–
–
–
–

Transcend both cultural and legal barriers
Familiar with distribution systems and referral networks
Headquarters personnel may ignore their advice
Lack of availability
Sales positions viewed negatively

• Third-country nationals
– Expatriates working for a foreign company

• Host-country nationals
– Work restrictions
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The 20 Most Expensive Cities
to Live on the Planet (in order)
Exhibit 17.1

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Selecting Sales
and Marketing Personnel
• Management must define precisely what is expected
of people
• Prime requisites
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

Maturity
Emotional stability
Breadth of knowledge
Positive outlook
Flexibility
Cultural empathy
Energetic and enjoy travel

• Mistakes can be costly
• A manager’s culture affects personnel decisions
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Training for International Marketing
• The nature of the training program depends on:
– The home culture of the sales person
– The culture of the business system and foreign market

• Continual training is important in foreign markets
• Companies should provide home-office
personnel with cross-cultural training
• The Internet now makes some kinds of sales
training much more efficient

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Personal Selling Tips
from Brussels to Bangkok
Exhibit 17.2

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Motivating Sales Personnel
• National differences must always be considered
when motivating the marketing force
• Individual incentives that work effectively in the
U.S. can fail completely in other cultures
• Communications are important in maintaining
high levels of motivation
• A company needs to make clear the
opportunities for growth within the firm

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Salespeople’s Distribution
of 100 Points among Rewards
in Terms of Their Importance

Exhibit 17.3

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Designing Compensation
Systems for Expatriates
• Fringe benefits
• Compensations comparisons between the home
office and abroad
• Short-term assignment compensation
• Using a compensation program to recruit,
develop, motivate, or retain personnel

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Global Similarity
to U.S. Compensations Plans

17-15


A Compensation Blueprint

How IBM Pays 140,000 Sales Executives Worldwide

17-16


Designing Compensation Systems
for a Global Sales Force
• Involve representatives from key countries
• Allow local managers to decide the mix between
base and incentive pay
• Use consistent performance measures (results
paid for) and emphasis on each measure
• Allow local countries flexibility in
implementations
• Use consistent communication and training
themes worldwide
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Designing Compensation Systems
for a Global Sales Force
• Don’t design the plan centrally and dictate to
local offices
• Don’t create a similar framework for jobs with
different responsibilities
• Don’t require consistency on every performance
measure within the incentive plan
• Don’t assume cultural differences can be
managed through the incentive plan
• Don’t proceed without the support of senior
sales executives worldwide

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Evaluating and Controlling
Sales Representatives
• In the U.S., emphasis is placed on individual
performance
– Which can easily be measured by sales revenues generated

• In many countries evaluation is more complex
– Where teamwork is favored over individual effort

• In U.S.
– Primary control tool used by sales managers is the incentive
system

• In other countries
– Corporate control and frequent interactions with peers and
supervisors are the means of motivation and control
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Preparing U.S. Personnel
for Foreign Assignments
• Cost of foreign assignments
– Typically from 150-400 percent of the annual base salary
– Cost increases if the expatriate returns home before completing
the scheduled assignment

• The planning process

– Must begin prior to the selection of those going abroad
– Must extend to their specific assignments after returning home

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Overcoming Reluctance
to Accept a Foreign Assignment
• Concerns for career
– An absence will adversely affect opportunities for advancement

• Concerns for family
–
–
–
–

Education of the children
Isolation from family and friends
Proper health care
The potential for violence

• Special compensations packages deal with
concerns

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Reducing the Rate of Early Returns
• Evaluation of an employee’s family

– 75 percent of families sent abroad experience adjustment
problems with children or marital discord

• Cross-cultural training for families as well as the
employee
• Local ombudsmen

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Successful Expatriate Repatriation
• Commit to reassigning expatriates to meaningful
positions
• Create a mentor program
• Offer a written job guarantee stating what company is
obligated to do for returning expatriate
• Keep the expatriate in touch with headquarters
through periodic briefings and headquarter visits
• Prepare the expatriate and family for repatriation once
a return date is set
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Developing Cultural Awareness
• Expatriate failures
– Caused by lack of an understanding of cultural differences and
their effect on management skills

• Cultural skills
– Can be learned and developed

– Provide the individual with the ability to relate to a different
culture even when the individual is unfamiliar with the details of
that particular culture

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The Changing Profile
of the Global Manager
• Fewer companies today limit their search
for senior-level executive talent to their home
countries
• Some companies believe
– It is important to have international assignments early in
a person’s career
– International training is an integral part of their entry-level
development programs

• Many companies are active in making the
foreign experience an integrated part of a
successful corporate career
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